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Online gambling games have come a long way. From the first online casinos in the 1990s, which had terrible graphics and only a few options, to realistic modern games with crystal-clear sharpness, animated games, and lead-in, there are even live casinos. These allow users to play and chat with real croupiers. So, what is the next step in the development of online casinos? What about virtual reality?
Virtual reality is a new environment that inspires but also frightens and evokes mistrust, as all other novelties. Some people consider it to be a sci-fi utopia, but the idea of adding virtual reality to gambling seems to be terrible for politicians and anti-gambling organizations. However, the fact that the trend of virtual reality development in the gambling industry has already been established is beyond doubt, and many regulatory barriers will face it. Some countries will completely ban virtual reality, but others may limit its use.
Nevertheless, even the limited coverage of the consumer market will improve the state of the market. However, taking into account the entire creative potential of virtual reality in gambling, it is impossible to stop its use, as it is impossible to prohibit pornography among Internet users.
Virtual Reality Slots Million Casino
The virtual reality at casinos is ready to be launched. Slots Million is the first major brand that has offered players casino games with complete immersion in virtual reality. Even though Oculus Rift headsets can hardly be available until 2016, Slots Million has already tested virtual reality and even launched the first casino with virtual reality. You can play with or without goggles, use a keyword or game controller to manage the gameplay, or just play the 3D version of casinos on your PC.When writing, the virtual casino was available on Windows 7 and 8. It is just necessary to download the application, and you can play certain games that will give you the feeling of being in the casino VIP room. By the way, you can win one of the 10 Oculus Rift headsets, so you should try your luck.
The virtual reality will allow players to visit real casinos due to 360-degree views, detalization, and digital graphics. People can walk around the casino hall and take a seat at any of the available slots.
The casino's design and composition, located on the top floor of a skyscraper in a virtual city, are flawless. Everything looks very realistic. There are even 3D sound effects. Users can find a bar, a lounge hall, 40 slot machines, and an immense screen next to the sofa in the casino. We recommend that you try a Jurassic Park slot. Games are presented in a completely new perspective.
- At the virtual reality casino, users can play on their computers, either with or without the Oculus Rift headset. Later, they can play on Macs, tablets, and smartphones.
- The casino has space for 20 players, with whom you will gamble together in the gaming hall. When this hall is wholly occupied, another identical hall is launched.
- Only players' avatars are present in the casino and even support service representatives are avatars.
When we were writing the article, there were 40 virtual reality games. Users can play 10 of them on the big screen.
Slots Million closely cooperates with a personal regulator - the jurisdiction of Malta while developing the online casino because Malta tends to develop a new set of best rules to create a new gambling reality. It is interesting to note that Malta insists that, unlike most land-based casinos, casinos under the jurisdiction of Malta should have wall clocks that allow players to keep an eye on the time.
Malta has also restricted multiplayer tournament games at Slots Million, where the player's balance is visible to everyone. The regulator has decided that casino customers' winnings and losses must be kept secret.
What is the Oculus Rift?
As soon as you put on a helmet, you suddenly find yourself in a virtual world that seems real. You can run, jump, drive a car, or fly, doing things that gamers have never done before. Hollywood fantasies have become reality. The startup Oculus VR created VR goggles for everyone the Oculus Rift. The VR goggles released by Oculus Rift will operate with your PC or mobile device.
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On March 25, 2014, the social networking website Facebook acquired Oculus VR for $2 billion. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that this headset "could create the most open social platform that has ever existed," although nobody knows exactly how Facebook will use the Oculus Rift.
How will the Oculus Rift operate? Imagine ski goggles with a big screen embedded in the mobile phone instead of the protective glass. Two images are displayed on the screen: one for each eye. The image is displayed distorted. Then it is fixed using lenses, creating a spherical image for each eye. A set of lenses located at the top of the screen allows users to adjust the focus and sharpness for each eye to create a stereoscopic 3D image. A little extra fragment of the image from the left side is available for the left eye. The same thing is observed for the right eye.
This makes the Oculus Rift similar to normal human vision. Goggles have embedded sensors that monitor the user's head movements and adjust the image on the screen accordingly.
Oculus Rift DK2 has the following technical characteristics:
- 7-Inch OLED-display, 960x1080 screen resolution;
- View - 100 degrees;
- Refresh rate - up to 75 Hz;
- Inertial update rate - 1,000 Hz;
- Positional update rate - 60 Hz;
- Weight - 380 g;
- HDMI and USB 2.0.
Changes in Gambling
The online gambling industry is facing higher control standards because more and more countries are choosing to license and fiscally accountable for online games, and gambling operators are trying to comply with the legislation. To be sure, the vast unlicensed "offshore market" exists, and the rules of gambling jurisdictions are not valid.
Thus, there are intriguing prospects for the appearance of two types of virtual reality: licensed VR casinos and illegal gambling dens that will use the restricted virtual reality available to them.
Considering that the virtual reality at Slots Million Casino is undeniably impressive, we can't help ignoring the fact that there is neither a market nor a customer base. Perhaps manufacturers believe that players will personally interact with virtual casino operators. And what will it look like when the customer base starts to grow? How big will be the customer base?
As for the market, the Oculus Rift will cost over $350. This is a relatively low price. However, VR goggles will operate only on powerful PCs, which are not cheap. Thus, the first users of VR casinos will be gamers of the millennial generation instead of casual or traditional players. Even representatives of Slots Million believe that most of their customers will test their virtual reality project in the 3D browser without using the Oculus Rift.
So, major casinos in Nevada have lamented that the representatives of the millennial generation refuse to play traditional casino games. Having grown up on console games, they prefer to enjoy Halo instead of staring at the hypnotic spinning of the reels.
Meanwhile, the ongoing growth of eSports has been noticed by manufacturers of traditional gambling games, which are desperately trying to attract the younger generation. For example, this year, gambling laws were amended in Nevada and New Jersey to allow making variable payouts on their slot machines to be able to launch slots that require the skills for video games. And if the gambling legislation generally dictates that all players must have the same chances of winning, variable payouts can increase the chances of players who can qualify based on skills for bonus games.
Blurred Borders
Borders between video games, eSports, and gambling have become increasingly blurred. The appearance of virtual reality will require higher computer powers.
Social casinos have already taken a bite out of online gambling profits, and soon, they will probably become even more popular. This business is currently worth about $3 billion. According to the experts, it will cost over $4 billion by 2017. Social casinos can be effectively used by land-based casinos as a marketing tool. For example, it is possible to recreate famous Las Vegas casinos in virtual reality. Well, these projects will be realized in the future. However, the first signs have already appeared. For instance, MGM Resorts, in its social casino called My Vegas, allows players to make 3D tours across MGM Casino located in Las Vegas.
William Hill from the United Kingdom will also implement virtual reality in gambling, although they specialize in racing rather than in casinos. Currently, they are developing a product that will resemble live racing and allow users to experience a race from the jockey's point of view. The software collects a lot of data about the race and will enable users to feel as if they are in the middle of the action. Details on how it will be used in gambling are not available to a broad audience, but certainly, it will differ from the virtual races that are currently available at William Hill and other websites.
Adam Krejcik, an analyst at Eilers Research, believes that social games have a chance to monetize the Oculus Rift. This may happen because social casino users differ significantly from traditional online casino customers. Gamers do not feel the same thrill of risk as conventional casino players.
Thus, virtual online casinos will most likely become a hybrid of video games, social games, and traditional casino games in the future. VR casinos are intended for the 21st-century generation.
